Crude Closes Lower, Natural Gas Jumps

By IBTimes Staff Reporter | September 24 2007 3:38 PM

Crude futures finished the day lower, but maintained their hold on the $80 level as storm concerns for the Gulf of Mexico waned.

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On Sunday, the U.S. Minerals Management Service reported that 45.8% of the oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in, compared to nearly 63% on Friday. In addition, the weather system named Jerry was downgraded to a tropical depression after momentarily being named a tropical storm. Jerry was expected to remain far from land, allowing many facilities to reopen. November-dated crude slipped 67 cents to finish the day at $80.95 per barrel.

On the other hand, natural gas added 28.7 cents as 2 potential tropical issues - - one in the Gulf and two in the Atlantic caught the eye of investors. October natural gas added 4.7% to finish at $6.367 per million British thermal units, recouping more than last week's loss.